zenpundit.com

[ by Charles Cameron — a DoubleQuote in the Wild ]
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This came up in my feed today —

We are living in a time when Onion headlines are real. pic.twitter.com/BByXwNaG50

— Dylan Marron (@dylanmarron) August 24, 2017

Richard Landes was just tweeting –

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as we say in the land… "life imitates parody."

— Richard Landes (@richard_landes) August 24, 2017

Ouch!

Not like me, not like my sons, btw.

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Or as Baudrillard might say:

Reality no longer has the time to take on the appearance of reality. It no longer even surpasses fiction: it captures every dream even before it takes on the appearance of a dream.

Ouch. Pinch me.

[ by Charles Cameron — from Abu A and Abu B to Steve and Donnie ]
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Karl Sharro is a Middle Eastern architect and satirist based in London, whose two modes of “simply” explaining the Middle East I presented a while back. His third view envisions ISIS as a board game, and asks Who can devise the most convoluted way to wipe out the Islamic State?

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Anyway, KarlreMarx has two jihadist ezxtremists he’s been tracking for some while — Abu A and Abu B:

Outside Sharro’s fevered imagination, ISIS does indeed have an air force — of weaponized drones.

Suicide? No, martydom — and individual ISIS members are as expendable as their goals are lofty:

Sometimes, to be honest, those goals make little sense..

— and besides, eclipses are signs of impending apocalypse..

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Time rolls on, however — and Sharro has shifted his target. As he put it in a tweet today, “I decided to retire Abu A and Abu B and replace them with another radicalised pair”:

Steve and Donnie — two’s company.

We shall see what we shall see..

[ by Charles Cameron — how quickly language changes — with a Swiftian nibble chaser]
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From the story update to a 2013 CSM piece, upper panel — oh! how true of so much in the modern mainstream media — with my more succinct 2016 phrasing below:

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It’s good to know the editors at CSM are protecting their readers from a too-literal — perhaps one might say, fundamentalist — reading of their text.

The headline of the story in question reads:

Why do people want to eat babies? Scientists explain.

The subhead:

Admit it: When presented with a baby, you’ve experienced a fleeting desire to eat it. Now science has an explanation.

And better yet, the lead — some would say, lede:

If you’re like most normal people, you’ve briefly considered eating a baby or two.

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Jonathan Swift might have thought the editors too politcally correct for the necessities of the day, noting —

A young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee, or a ragout.

[ by Charles Cameron — religious satire USA, plus two Charlie Hebdo resources ]
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I hadn’t realized that comic book satire had entered the religion vs science debate — foolish of me, it’s an obvious medium for the task:

And here for total impact is the full page of Jesus riding the dinosaur (detail above), text included:

I have to say, neither these nor the Charlie Hebdo and Jyllands-Posten cartoons disturb me personally — but in our discussions of free speech and blasphemy, I think the voices of those who may be offended deserve a hearing.

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Sources and Resources:

Popperfont, Did Jesus ride on a dinosaur?

Beliefnet, Jesus and Darwin fight

Daily Beast, 16 most ‘shocking’ Charlie Hebdo covers

Understanding Charlie Hebdo, Charlie Hebdo’s satire

[ by Charles Cameron — all tweets guaranteed safe for the workplace ]
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Steven Emerson made the mistaken claim on Fox News that Birmingham is an all-Muslim enclave — and has withdrawn his claim and apologized fulsomely in the aftermath. While Emerson is not an “expert” I’d follow or trust, I have to admit I’ve enjoyed some of the humo[u]r his claim brought forth under the #FoxNewsFacts hashtag. Here are my personal favorites:

Qibla:

Undeniable proof of the Islamic takeover of a previously British city of #Birmingham, according to #foxnewsfacts pic.twitter.com/9AvXAuEEvI

— InCapital24 (@InCapitol24) January 12, 2015

For the record, that’s the Mecca bingo hall on Kingstanding Circle, Birmingham.

Hijab:

Legislation passed in Islamified Britain forcing the Queen of England to don a traditional headscarf #FoxNewsFacts pic.twitter.com/yT0CTRTpi8

— Sarah M (@sazza_jay) January 11, 2015

Hudud:

recent convert to Islam, Queen Elizabeth ruthlessly beheading innocent U.K citizens under Sharia law #FoxNewsFacts pic.twitter.com/p093pPB03E

— moses (@musaQ_95) January 13, 2015

Isn’t that Henry V she’s beheading?

Keffiyeh:

Jam jars across Britain are becoming radicalised. #FoxNewsFacts pic.twitter.com/0O4Cfv1DIo

— Parvez Anwar (@pavanwar) January 12, 2015